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methanojen's review
5.0
An inside look at how an outsider rose to the “pinnacle” of science: winning the Nobel Prize in 2009, along win Ada Yonath and Tom Steitz, for contributions to understanding the structure and function of the ribosome. Venkatraman (“Venki”) Ramakrishnan was trained as a physicist but fell in love with biology as a PhD student. This book reads as Venki’s memoir. The book contains approachable descriptions of myriad scientific techniques, primarily in X-ray crystallography, that eventually enabled the author and fellow Nobel winners to succeed at what was considered crazy for the first decades of his career: solving the atomic structure of the ribosome. These descriptions help the reader grasp the incredible persistence involved in pursuing ribosome structural studies until quite recently, when advances in electron microscopy have vastly expedited progress in the field. The book describes the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of working on this vexing problem from the author’s point of view, with due credit to his mentors, lab members, and numerous collaborators who enabled the successful story. The personal stories, scientific storytelling, and colorful personalities made the book an enjoyable, fast read. The author describes his experience of moving from pursuit of an interesting scientific question with fairly open collaboration (at least on the receiving end!), to growing increasingly nervous and closed-off to potential competition. It struck me not so much as the story of the ribosome, but as an honest description of the evolution of a scientist and a scientific field, the allure of fame and fortune, and a behind-the-scenes look at what is actually involved in receiving such a prestigious prize as the Nobel.
gijs's review
4.0
3,5 stars; pretty heavy on the science part, this could be a hard to follow narrative for the non-initiate; a solid and easy to follow introduction on the ribosome at the start of the book would have helped a lot; many interesting aspects of his research are highlighted, especially liked the bits on the ribosome as a target for antibiotics, and the story of the scientific race to decipher its structure using crystallography.
samyukta_24's review against another edition
3.0
A part-memoir, part-educational account of the race to solve the ribosome structure, culminating in the grandest of victories.
The one thing that I can confidently say after reading this book, is that Dr. Ramakrishnan does not mince words. It was a highly personal view of his involvement in the field of structural biology, complete with bitter comments and sardonic jokes against his competitors, praise and attributions towards his students and friends, his constant worries and fear of being a nobody or a has-been in the field, and most importantly, of what it means to follow a goal or an ambition. As a science student myself, reading about a Nobel prize winner starting off his book by talking about how he had no clue what he had to do after his graduate studies and essentially stumbling from one path to another, was perhaps the most uplifting thing I have read till now.
The actual science part, which is how exactly the ribosome structure was solved and the machines and technology used was a bit high-brow, which is embarrassing since it's one of my core subjects in University as well. The "race" by itself was exciting to read, regardless of the fact that most of the technical jargon wasn't easy enough to follow.
The one thing that I can confidently say after reading this book, is that Dr. Ramakrishnan does not mince words. It was a highly personal view of his involvement in the field of structural biology, complete with bitter comments and sardonic jokes against his competitors, praise and attributions towards his students and friends, his constant worries and fear of being a nobody or a has-been in the field, and most importantly, of what it means to follow a goal or an ambition. As a science student myself, reading about a Nobel prize winner starting off his book by talking about how he had no clue what he had to do after his graduate studies and essentially stumbling from one path to another, was perhaps the most uplifting thing I have read till now.
The actual science part, which is how exactly the ribosome structure was solved and the machines and technology used was a bit high-brow, which is embarrassing since it's one of my core subjects in University as well. The "race" by itself was exciting to read, regardless of the fact that most of the technical jargon wasn't easy enough to follow.
ammmiiiii's review
2.0
Somewhat interesting; however, focussed solely on the physiological structure of the ribosome rather than uncovering its “secrets”, as promised.
gubz's review
3.0
Don’t be deterred by the three stars. It was an amazing book but the title was misleading as it didn’t even touch on the making of genes but instead was focused on the genetic flow of information by deciphering the atomic structure of the subunits of the ribosome and the breaking and forming of peptide bonds of different RNAs through X-ray crystallography. Super cool but nothing compared to The Code Breaker and Jennifer Doudna’s race
skybalon's review
4.0
Look I don't like biology and I enjoyed this book. The author walks a fine line between modesty and self-promotion, but hey as a Nobel prize winner, I guess a little bragging is warranted. Worth the read.